Site Search Navigation

Site Navigation

Site Mobile Navigation

When the Train Is Too Crowded to Board

By Sewell Chan November 19, 2008 5:33 pmNovember 19, 2008 5:33 pm

Riders packed a No. 4 train in July. (Photo: Rob Bennett for The New York Times)

The three Lexington Avenue subway lines — the Nos. 4, 5 and 6 — have gotten so crowded that riders are routinely stranded on the platforms during peak periods, unable to board the cars, according to a report released on Wednesday by the office of City Councilman Daniel R. Garodnick, who represents parts of the Upper East Side.

The problem is not new, but Mr. Garodnick said it was probably worse on the East Side lines than anywhere else in the system, citing the passenger-loading guidelines used by New York City Transit, the arm of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that runs the subways and buses. Mr. Garodnick urged the authority to spare the three lines from the service reductions being contemplated as the authority struggles to close a growing budget deficit.

Even at full capacity — 27 trains per hour — during the morning rush, the two Lexington Avenue express lines, the Nos. 4 and 5, frequently are too full to accommodate all the passengers, who must wait for the next train. Transit guidelines call for a three-square-foot space for each passenger to stand; often, such space is unavailable.

The result, Mr. Garodnick said, is not only commuter frustration, but also lost economic activity, and safety concerns.

From July 28 to Aug. 8, and again from Oct. 27 to Nov. 14, the councilman’s staff observed passengers along the uptown and downtown express tracks at the 59th Street station during the morning and evening rush and passengers at the downtown platform at the 77th Street station during the morning rush.

Although the evidence from the report is more suggestive than scientific, the findings suggested heavy crowding.

More than 130 riders were kept off of each downtown No. 6 train at 77th Street during the morning rush, defined as 8:15 to 9 a.m. On two days, the number of stranded passengers exceeded 400.

At least 75 commuters were unable to board each No. 4 and 5 train at 59th Street on the nights of Yankees home games in August.

During the two commuter rush periods, an average of 25 riders were left stranded by every train at the stations observed.

In response to Mr. Garodnick’s report, the M.T.A. said in a statement:

As the sole subway corridor serving the East Side of Manhattan, M.T.A. New York City Transit’s Lexington Avenue Line is the busiest in the system. On an average weekday, 1.3 million customers board trains. To handle the rush hour crowding, the 4, 5 and 6 trains operate on two-minute headways—among the shortest in the system. With only two minutes between trains, the line is operating at its capacity, meaning that during the height of the rush period, no more trains can be added. However, work is currently underway on the construction of the Second Avenue Subway. When opened, this state-of-the-art rapid transit line will add significant capacity to the east side of Manhattan.

In order to keep customers informed of delays and service changes, New York City Transit is in the process of expanding its customer communication efforts through the use of text messaging, email alerts and the installation of Public Address Customer Information Signs, which will be installed in more than 150 stations on the numbered lines.

M.T.A. Metro-North Railroad is currently building a new commuter station adjacent to the new Yankee Stadium and it is scheduled to be ready next spring. This new stop will provide additional capacity beyond the Jerome and Concourse subway lines, which already serve the Stadium.

Summer and spring are bad, because the Yankees and the Mets are playing. Can more be done to ferry passengers by bus to these games? So many people get on at hubs on the 4 and 5 lines that it makes getting home from work a near rebellion.

I believe that describing the M.T.A.’s statement as a “response” to Councilman Garodnick’s report is very generous. I appreciate that work has been restarted on the Second Avenue Subway and that a new Metro-North Railroad station is being built. However, I cannot help but hope that there has to be someone in the M.T.A. or somewhere in our city and state government apparatus that has an imaginative solution for this problem. (Any maybe there is a politician with the courage to facillitate that solution although it probably is not Speaker Silver.) And I can certainly attest to the fact that it is not just happening on the Lexington Avenue line.

This report grossly understates the problem. During the morning rush, when I transfer from the N at Union Square to re uptown 4/5, the crowds fill the platform, stairs, and mezzanine. In actuality, 2 trains go by before you get to the platform, and another 1 or 2 go by before you get on. All the article mentions is passengers not making the first train!! How much more out of touch could the MTA be?? Moreover, the excess people keep the trains at the stations longer, because people are always trying to wedge in as the doors close. And can you blame them? If you are a junior level associate,, commuting from park slope to midtown, giving yourself an hour should be PLENTY. So I understand why these young guys are frantically squeezing themselves into the doors while they are missing job interviews, meetings, and the like.

Oh yes, years from now when I am senile and all other recollection of my college years at CUNY Hunter are gone, the memory of having to skip several trains back and forth until I can squeeze into one shall remain with me. And now it’s proven for time immemorial by a study.

Eliminating service from overcrowded trains, of course, is bad. But, these lines are well serviced so even if one has to wait two or three trains the time delay is not that great (and the trains are only REALLY packed between a handful of stops).
But, which lines would one cut service from, then? Underserviced lines, where eliminating one train might mean an additional 10 or 20 minute wait?
People taking the 4/5 between between downtown and midtown have plenty of alternate options, as well as not all that far to go. It’s quite a different story for the outlying areas of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.

An increasing population combined with service cuts will make for public transport misery in NYC in the coming years. It’s already evident. Service cuts on buses have already been made – look at crosstown buses such as the M86. In early 2007 buses were frequent and generally uncrowded. Now there are long gaps between buses, two or three will arrive together, and each is packed like a cattle wagon. And we have fare increases to look forward to!

But what we need a response to and a promise about is service cutbacks cuz they are happening. There was nothing in the MTA response addressing this central issue. The service on this line must not be cut back during rush hours or off hours-it is always crowded.

The sections of the second ave line that were built decades ago are 2 tracks. They’re not going to rebuild those tunnels now as it’d be extremely expensive to do. Thus it’ll be just 2 tracks for much of the upper east side portion. This of course is assuming the work being done now doesn’t get cut off with the budget crisis.

I used to try to use the 4/5/6 at rush hour, but then wised up and found longer/less congested ways to get around. I found that any time I might have saved going the shorter route (via the 4/5/6) was generally wasted in waiting for trains, service delays, etc.

Am I the only one who is keeping alive the old tradition of boarding between cars? I’ve been doing that since high school, thirty years ago, and there’s always room that way. Some of the new trains are kind of tough though, since the gates or chains extending between cars aren’t that easy to open quickly.

The new Second Avenue line is, at least in this first stage, only running as far south as 63rd Street. There, it will transfer a significant part of its passenger load onto the already overburdened Lexington Avenue line.

The long-term plan is to extend the Second Avenue line south to lower Manhattan, and that will improve the situation dramatically. But until that second leg of the project is built–and you have to wonder whether it will be, given New York State’s finances right now–the new line will not solve the problem.

maybe the mta could get the long island rail road to return the funds its retirees stole from the system to finance the commute of common new yorkers who need to get to work; people who don’t have free golf as part of their pension plan.

Since everybody in a position of power will say that a four-track line is financially impossible, why don’t they at least build more stations on the Second Avenue Line? As currently planned, the stations will be so far apart that it will be like an express line on which they forgot to build the local stations.

That is:
Houston St. to 14th St. in “one jump”.
Then, further uptown, 42nd St., 55th St., 72nd St., and 86th St.
Shouldn’t there obviously be stations in between those stations?
An “all-local” line is still preferable to an “all-express” line.
Consider the situation of the elderly and handicapped who travel independently, and the situation of everybody on bad-weather days. It is ridiculous to have such big gaps between stations.

Since that line is FINALLY being built, after all those DECADES of planning it and then not doing it, let’s build it in a sensible form.

I’ve experienced the overcrowded Lex for the past 24 years. It was overcrowded in the 80s, and now, with the greater number of high-rises and the 5 new buildings Sloan-Kettering has added, the 4,5,and 6 trains are out of control . I read something a few years ago that it operated at 150% of capacity. Now the MTA wants to cut service? Oh puh-LEEZE! MTA, get a grip!
That said, people also need to be spatially intelligent, i.e. moving into the center of the cars, and not standing at the doors, seemingly unaware they are blocking people trying to exit or enter.
As far as the 2nd Avenue subway goes, the final phase of the route ending up at Hanover Square is only something I can hope for or dream of — I think I’ll be about 70 then.

Twenty-five years ago in Tokyo the Ginza Line among others employed pushers to pack passengers into the trains at rush hours, as there was no way to accommodate the crowd on the platform. Sardines enjoyed more room in their cans. It may be no different today. Get used to it.

What's Next

Looking for New York Today?

New York Today is still going strong! Though no longer on City Room, New York Today continues to appear every weekday morning, offering a roundup of news and events for the city. You can find the latest New York Today at nytoday.com or in the morning, on The New York Times homepage or its New York section. You can also receive it via email.

Lookin for Metropolitan Diary?

Metropolitan Diary continues to publish! Since 1976, Metropolitan Diary has been a place for New Yorkers, past and present, to share odd fleeting moments in the city. We will continue to publish one item each weekday morning and a round-up in Monday's print edition. You can find the latest entries at nytimes.com/diary and on our New York section online.

About

City Room®, a news blog of live reporting, features and reader conversations about New York City, has been archived. Send questions or suggestions by e-mail.